A Reject of Reality
by Ventusblade
Summary: "I don't get people. Never have. Never will." Battered and broken, Neku Sakuraba is cast off to Death City, an alternate plane of existance from the Shibuya he knows and loves. Rejected by his own world, will he be able to find refuge in a world where trust leads to power? AN:I apologize for the bare minimum summary. I do not own the cover photo shown, TWEWY, or Soul Eater.
1. Chapter 1

AN: Hello all, Ventusblade here. Just a small heads up before I get this show on the road. This first chapter will spoil the ending of TWEWY. I know that the game was released in 2008, but I feel I need to give a warning in case you haven't finished that masterpiece.

Disclaimer: I do not own The World Ends With You (TWEWY) or Soul Eater. They belong to their respective creators. Now, on to the story.

* * *

**(Neku, 1st person POV)**

_Why?_

That question burned in my mind, repeating over and over without end.

Here I stood at the end of my third week in the Reapers' Game, but nothing was as it should be.

Three weeks ago I had been thrust into the Reapers' Game, a deadly game that sent me scrambling through the crowded streets of Shibuya. Confused, angry, and shutting out the world, I stumbled through that first week fighting for survival. I thought that having friends would "drag me down". I had been suspicious of everyone, refusing to open up to or trust those whose lives were in my hands.

At the beginning of each week, the overseers of the game, the Reapers, stole whatever I valued most as my "entry fee". First they took my memories; then my partner of the first week, Shiki Misaki; finally they took every last player in this stupid death game.

All of those players had been brought together by one thing: death. Every player in the Reapers' Game was already dead, fighting for a second chance at life.

Only moments ago, my partners and I had stood up to this game's "Producer", Megumi Kitanji, to end all of this. Though Shiki, Beat and I beat the reaper nothing had ended. Just the opposite occurred.

I stared at the cold, metal object in my hand.

"Neku, you might want to raise that gun. This is a duel after all. Remember? The winner gets to be Shibuya's Composer." Joshua flashed a near sadistic smile as he raised his own weapon.

Yoshia Kiryu otherwise known as Joshua. I had been partnered up with Josh during my second week of being trapped in Shibuya, playing by the Reapers' rules. That week had been very difficult for me., playing not only for myself but for Shiki as well. Joshua had been an arrogant prick, but he earned my respect and eventually my trust. But then Joshua had been erased, killed, while protecting me. Or so I thought.

"Damn it Joshua!" I screamed, lifting the gun level with the Composer's head.

"That's more like it. Now, I'll count back from ten and we'll shoot," Josh directed nonchalantly, taking aim. "Ten. Nine. Eight."

_Can I really do this?_ The weapon trembled in my hands._ I felt like I could finally relate to someone. Now he's trying to snuff out my existence for good._

_"_Four. Three. Two."

I squeezed my eyes shut, my hands dropping the gun and falling to my sides. _I couldn't bring my self to pull the trigger..._

BLAM!

There was a sharp piercing pain in my stomach and I fell to the ground. As the world around me grew dark I had only one thought.

_Is this what I get for putting my trust in someone else?_

* * *

(3rd Person POV)

"Hurry up Soul! I'm not going to be late just because you're too slow!" A girl shouted as she sprinted through the near empty streets of Death City. The girl wore a white collared blouse with a yellow sweater vest, a black and red plaid skirt, and black combat boots with white buckles. Tucked under right arm was a thick, hard covered book. Her ash blonde hari was put up in two pig tails on either side of her head, contrasting with her sparkling green eyes.

"Tch. We still have ten minutes 'till class. Besides, it's not cool to show up early," Maka's partner, Soul Eater Evans, complained. Soul ran a hand through his stark white hair, sweeping it off to one side as he adjusted the "E-A-T" sticker on his signature headband. His red eyes held a relaxed and almost uncaring expression. He wore a yellow and black jaket with buttons up the front, maroon pants, and yellow and black sneakers with a pattern resembling his own shark-like teeth.

"Soul, don't try me," Maka warned, not letting up her fast pace. Without warning she screeched to a halt, staring down an empty side street.

"What happened to 'hurry up'?" Soul followed his partner's gaze, noticing a oddly shaped pile of...clothing? "Holy crap. Is that a person?"

Maka was already kneeling by the collapsed form. It was a boy with firey orange hair, wearing a massive pair of indigo over ear headphones. "Hey! Are you ok? C'mon get up!" The boy cracked a bleary eye open and tentatively glanced around. Soul though he could see a tear welling up in that one open eye as the boy took in his surroundings.

The boy was tall and slender looking, with messy spikes of orange hair protruding out from under his headphones. His blue eyes held a hard, pained look. He wore a sleeveless shirt with a comedicly large funnel-shaped collar and an indigo stripe outlined with gold going down the middle, a yellow sweatband on his left wrist, and white shorts held up by a loose-fitting belt. His shoes were black with an indigo stripe outlined in gold, similar to the style of his shirt.

Maka remained crouched by the unknown boy. "Can you talk? What's your name?" She berated him with questions, but he refused to speak. The headphone wearing boy just remained on the ground, his shoulders moving up and down in an inconsistant pattern.

"Maka!" Soul burst, cathing his partner by surprise. "Give the dude some space." At that moment, the boy spoke.

"Why?"

Maka turned to the boy, confusion prevalent in her expression.

"WHAT THE HEll?!" The boy screamed to the heavens, tears streamimg down his face.

As quickly as his outerburst began, it ended. The boy once again fell to the ground, and Soul sprinted foward picking up the unconscious stranger.

"Maka, we're taking this guy to the med ward. Now!" _Why am I doing this for a random stranger?_ Maka nodded an fell into place behind her partner.

As they ran, Soul heard the boy utter one phrase. "All the world need is me..."

* * *

AN: And with that chapter one is finished. If you were confused by what the hell just happend, I apologize deeply. I promise that everything will be made clear in chapter two. This was just a kind of "trailer" to introduce the idea. I know I'm excited about this particular story, and I hope you (the readers) are as well.

And with that I bid you adieu. Read, Rate, and Review (no seriously. Please Review). Rinse and Repeat.

-Ventusblade


	2. Announcement: This Story is NOT Dead!

Hey guys, Vetusblade here. I have some REALLY good news. I'm finally ready to start chapter 2 of this story! HOORAY! I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry for the massive wait. I've been working on my other two stories that get a little more attention, but I can't deny this little project any longer (also my little brother has been begging me to write chapter 2). SO, I have already outlined the vast majority of chapter 2, but I need to refresh on the plot of Soul Eater (so I can create a coherent overarching plot). That being said, anyone want to help me out? I would be so appreciative to have a beta reader/person to bounce ideas off of and to tell me when I'm being dumb.

So, in review, yes chapter two is coming in the foreseeable future, no I do not yet have a beta reader and yes I would appreciate one. Also, since I can't just give you no info on what I'm planning, here are some of my notes.

1) Expect to see some psychs (pins).

2) A certain large white handed individual will appear in chapter 2.

3) Who liked how Neku acted during Week 1? Yes, that is a hint.

4) Neku cannot scan peoples' thoughts, but he can scan them. For what? You'll find out.

6) I haven't decided whether to give Neku a weapon partner yet. What do you guys think?

7) Did you notice that I skipped 5?

8) The tile of this announcement may be a hint for some character that may or may not appear in the story. I haven't decided yet. If you know what the hint is, tell me your opinion. (Side note: The hint is a spin off of Soul Eater)

And those are the only hints I'm giving you for right now. Feel free to PM me if you want me to answer more questions and possibly give more info. As always Read, Rate, and Review. Rinse and Repeat.

Your highly apologetic author,  
-Ventusblade


	3. 2 - Wings of an Angel, Tounge of a Devil

AN: Hey all, Ventusblade here with the long awaited chapter 2 of A Reject of Reality. I hope this lives up to your expectations. Just to give a bit of info, my plan is to write scenes from Neku's perspective in the 1st person, while scenes from any other perspective will be from the 3rd person perspective. I'll use this, "**(Perspective/Character)**", to show which perspective each scene is in. Enjoy!

* * *

**(3****rd**** Person)**

"Ah Soul-kun, are you here for your check-up?" Nurse Medusa asked with a friendly smile, welcoming Soul "Eater" Evans into her office. She was seated at her desk, which was pushed against a wall, shuffling through a veritable mountain of papers. On her left was a plain white screen, obscuring the rest of the room from sight.

Medusa had blonde hair that was short all around except for two long strands extending downwards, framing either side of her face that intertwined each other to rest upon her chest. She wore a black dress with a white arrow belt that crossed itself in front to form an X. Over her dress she wore a white lab coat.

"Yeah. Thanks for making time for me, Medusa-sensei." Soul shuffled toward the nurse, shrugging out of his yellow and black windbreaker and t-shirt on his way to the chair next to the nurse's work space, revealing a diagonal scar reaching from his right shoulder to his left hip. He glanced behind the screen mid stride, examining the mysterious orange haired boy lying unconscious on the white hospital bed, his massive pair of indigo headphones lying on a table beside him. "How's he doing?"

"The boy you and Maka-chan brought?" Medusa asked, taking out a stethoscope and placing it on Soul's back. "He seems to be fine. He has no injuries and, as far as I could tell, he's not ill. He must have passed out from exhaustion or something of that sort," she concluded, moving the stethoscope to Soul's chest. "Although," she continued, "he has been talking in his sleep. Usually it's incoherent, but he keeps mumbling about 'partners' and 'games'."

Soul frowned in confusion. "Partners? Is he a meister?" He quickly dismissed the idea. "That wouldn't make any sense, he wasn't with a weapon. Well whatever, it's not cool to ask too many questions." Soul fell silent, bottling his curiosity as he waited for the nurse to finish her examination.

Finally, Medusa put the stethoscope around her neck and pulled out a pen along with a pad of white lined paper. "Alright Soul, you seem perfectly healthy. The black blood should stay under control for the time being." The boy sighed in relief as the nurse continued. "In any event, I want you to try and take things easy. Straining yourself too much would just be asking for trouble."

"Alright Sensei. Can I go now?" The white haired boy asked, putting his shirt and coat back on.

The nurse nodded. "Of course, but before you go would you mind checking on our unconscious guest?"

Soul shrugged silently and walked past the curtain, stopping before the bed the boy was laying on. He hadn't noticed it when he and Maka had been carrying the boy, but there was a black pin with a white skull graphic attached to the boy's shirt.

_Must be nothing,_ Soul thought, making his way to the side of the bed. As soon as he moved closer to inspect the bed's sleeping occupant, the boy's eyes flew open and he jolted upright clutching his chest and gasping, causing Soul to take a step back in surprise.

The boy slowly gained control of his breathing and looked around the room, stopping to glare at Soul, his eyes virtually overflowing with blatant distrust and apprehension.

"S'up, I'm Soul. How're you feeling?" Soul raised his hand in a greeting as the boy continued to stare at him, ignoring his question. Instead, the boy snatched his headphones off the table beside him, placing the large purple object over his ears.

"Am I…alive?" Soul raised his eyebrow at the boy's strange question. "No, I'm positive Josh shot me," the boy growled, gripping his stomach tightly.

"Uh, Medusa-sensei? I think you should come over here," Soul called, not looking away from the disgruntled boy in the bed.

The nurse quickly appeared beside the bed, examining the boy up and down as he continued to murmur to himself. "Hello, my name is Medusa. I'm the nurse here at DWMA. Can you tell me your name and how you ended up unconscious in an alley?" The nurse asked in a kind, but serious tone.

The boy turned to the nurse, his gaze piercing her like a knife. "Neku Sakuraba. I want to see this week's GM."

Soul and the nurse glanced at each other quickly before turning back to Neku. "I'm sorry, but could you please explain what you mean?" Medusa asked gently, only increasing the intensity of the boy's glare.

"The GM," Neku repeated icily. "The person in charge of this place, I want to see them."

Soul looked between Neku and Medusa, a confused frown apparent on his face. "Medusa-sensei, should I take him to Lord Death?"

The nurse thought for a moment before nodding. "Yes please, Soul. Tell him everything you know and let him talk to this young man." She turned back to Neku. "Sakuraba-kun, are you able to walk?" The boy nodded silently, forcing himself out of the bed and onto his feet.

It was apparent that Neku was at least an inch taller than Soul as he made his way to the boy's side, again eyeing him distrustfully. The look was not lost on the white haired boy.

_What did I do to deserve to death stare,_ Soul silently wondered. "C'mon, I'll take you to Lord Death." With that, he began leading the silent boy out of the dispensary and down the quiet halls of DWMA.

* * *

**(Neku POV, First** **Person)**

_This is the GM? _I stared across the table at the odd man.

"Hiya, kiddo! I'm Lord Death. Nice to meetcha!" The strange man clad in a black cloak and a comical skull mask waved an oversized white hand in greeting. Not only was his appearance bizarre, but his voice was high and nasal, as if he was forcing it to sound that way.

I laughed humorlessly. "You reapers just get more and more annoying. Just let me out of the Game. I already beat it three times, so tell Josh to get his lazy ass over here and let me out."

The man in the mask stared at me silently. It was impossible to read his facial expression because of the mask, but he didn't seem agitated. "I think you're a little confused, kiddo. Let's start simple. I don't know what this "Game" you're talking about is, but you're at DWMA, Death Weapon Meister Academy also known as Shibusen. This is my school where weapons and meisters come to-" Just something cut off the reaper.

"Yo, Lord Death, long time no see. What happened to your voice? I haven't heard anything so ridiculous in ages."

I knew that voice. It belonged to the one man I had respected more than anyone. It was because of what he said that I tried opening up to people, trusting them. 'The world ends at your borders', was what he told me. And where did that get me? Murdered by the one person I thought I could relate to, someone I thought I could trust. Great advice.

"Mr. H." My voice was monotone, almost as if I was devoid of emotion. Did this man still deserve my respect? I didn't know, opting to revert back to the old tactic of "close yourself off".

"Hey there Phones. I thought you might be confused when you woke up, so I popped by for a little visit." Hanekoma shrugged nonchalantly, walking over to sit beside Lord Death. "So, let me explain a few important things. First of all, you're not in Shibuya. This is Death City Nevada in the United Sates."

_How the hell did I get to a different country?_ "Take me back to Japan, I have business with Josh."

Hankeoma shook his head. "Sorry, no can do kiddo. The Shibuya in this world sure ain't your Shibuya. Ever heard of the multiple worlds theory? Basically, it says that there are multiple versions of a world. You're in one of those. I'm what you call an Angel. We Angels, pretty much the overseers of those parallel worlds, call them 'planes of existence'. I sent you here right before the Composer could kill you." _Angel? Alternate world? _Despite my confusion I remained silent, waiting for Hanekoma to continue. "Now comes the problem of sending you back. Making the jump from your world to this world took a lot out of you, lowering your base vibe. Your vibe is what allows you to break through the walls separating the different planes of existence, and yours isn't strong enough to make that jump again." Mr. H shrugged apologetically.

I slowly allowed myself to digest the information. Mr. H had saved me by sending me to some "parallel world", and now I was trapped here. That was simple enough, not pleasing, but simple. Still, there were too many questions. "Am I alive?"

"Yup," Hanekoma answered. "In this world there is no Game. When you die, you're dead, no second chance." The Angel turned to Lord Death. "Lord Death, could you explain how this place works, souls, wavelengths, that kind of stuff."

"Sure," the cloaked man answered cheerfully. "In this world, power is born within the soul. Some people even have a soul that allows them to transform into a weapon. Those 'weapons', as we call them, come to DWMA and partner up with a 'meister', someone who will wield them. When a weapon and meister with compatible souls work together they become much more powerful than they could be individually. As they become more in sync, they become more powerful. To get their souls in sync, they have to be open with, trust, and understand each other."

I snorted in disgust, causing the table's other occupants to turn to me quizzically. "Partners? Trust? Do you even hear the crap coming out of your mouth? When you open up to a person, all you're doing is opening yourself up to pain and betrayal. Anyone who thinks otherwise is naïve."

Death cleared his throat awkwardly. "Well, we'll see if we can change your mind about that." _And maybe hell will freeze over._ "In the meantime, since you can't return to your world, you'll enroll in my academy. If you would wait outside I'll have a teacher come and escort you to a room you can use while you're here."

Silently, I stood up and turned away from the table, turning on my mp3 player. "Open up to someone?" I muttered in disgust. "What a joke."

* * *

**(3****rd**** Person POV)**

Hanekoma sighed and ran a hand through his slicked back hair. "That could have gone better."

The death god stared at him in response, one eyebrow raised. "Seems like he's an interesting one. His soul has a lot of potential."

"He has an all-inclusive soul," Hanekoma explained, "one harnessing superior Imagination and potential. Because of that he was able to turn his world into the Optimal Plane of Existence." The man shook his head sadly before continuing. "But the damage his soul incurred was crippling. Betrayal scarred it, causing it to close itself off from any more possible pain. As he is right now, you'd be lucky to get him to trust anything other than himself.

"Well, old friend, he won't be able to stay that way here. Give it time, I'm sure he'll slowly open up."

Hanekoma smiled weakly at the death god, standing up from the table. "For the boy's sake, I hope so."

* * *

AN: And that's all I have for chapter two. I'm sorry it was so short, but I didn't want to take even longer than I already have. Let's just move on to the reviews, shall we?

**1samster: **Thanks for the idea. **  
Nneji56:** Glad you liked the first chapter. Sorry for the long wait between these two chapters.  
**Heart Of A Mew: **I'm surprised you like the cliffhanger, I usually hate them. Anyway, hope chapter two was at least kinda worth the wait.**  
TheLegendaryBladeFalchion: **1) Yeah, I sucked with the upload time. I started this with no plan and no idea that I wouldn't be able to hand it. So sorry about that. 2) You're welcome.**luke shadowrider: **Thanks for saying the first chapter was awesome!  
**BLoodwitch Raven: **I think I'm going to follow the anime because it is a lot less convoluted than the manga.

Once again, I apologize profusely for the gigantic wait between chapter 1 and this chapter. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Now, incase anyone reads this part, I want to hear your opinions. What do you really want to see and who do you really want Neku to interact with? I know I want Neku to fight a certain blue haired meister, but beyond that I don't really have a plan. Finally, how do you guys feel about "Soul Eater NOT!"? Now ladies, gentlemen, and others; Read, Rate, and Review. Rinse and Repeat.

-Ventusblade


	4. 3 - Music of the Soul

AN: Surprise! I wrote something! Before I get this show on the road, I need to make a clarification about the different perspectives of this story. I'm going to probably mostly write in 1st person from now on. The reason for this is that I'm terrible at writing 3rd person POV. So yeah… Enjoy!

* * *

**(3****rd**** Person POV)**

"Alright class, today I have a special treat for you." Professor Franken Stein turned the large screw sticking out of the right side of his head as he built up "suspense". He stared out at his students, the crescent moon class, unimpressed by their lack of interest. "Today, we will be dissecting a rare breed of bird. It's practically extinct so we might as well examine it while there are still a few left."

In the back of the semi-circular classroom a group of four students collectively groaned.

"Not this crap again," Soul moaned, his tone reflecting the sentiment of '_it's too early for this'_. "This nut's been our sensei for two weeks and all we've done is dissect stuff." The boy sighed heavily and fell forward onto the desk in front of him. "This sucks."

"I know!" The boy beside Soul roared. Between his electric blue hair and star tattoo on his right shoulder, the boy was hard to miss. That and his over the top "I'm awesome and EVERYONE needs to know it" personality wouldn't stand for anyone overlooking him. "How am I supposed to become an even bigger star when we don't learn anything new?"

The tip of Maka's pencil snapped against her paper, ruining her flawlessly organized notes. For her the last week of class had been nothing but listening to her blue haired friend complain, and she wasn't sure how much more of it she could take. "Black Star, I swear-"

The room was suddenly silenced by the creaking of a door and the appearance of two people, one familiar and one unknown. Every pair of eyes targeted the newcomers, examining them with (poorly) hidden curiosity.

"Sorry to interrupt," Sid began, the harsh light of the room reflecting off his zombie-blue skin. Behind the zombie-fied teacher slouched a boy clad in a purple shirt, face obscured by the large funnel-like neck and ears covered by oversized purple headphones.

Maka instantly recognized him. "Isn't that the guy we ran into on the way to school? What's he doing with Sid-sensei?" Soul shrugged in reply to his partner's question, not even bothering to lift his head off the desk.

"Dunno," he shrugged. "New classmate?" He suggested, attempting to keep his voice bored-sounding and impassive. In truth, after his brief encounter with the Neku in the dispensary he'd been hoping to avoid the taciturn stranger.

"I have a new student for you, Stein." He motioned for the boy to stand beside Stein before handing over control of the situation to the screw-headed sensei.

"Right then," Stein began. "I guess we'll hold off on the lesson for now. Would you care to introduce yourself?"

* * *

**(Neku POV)**

Would I like to introduce myself?

I was wearing a giant pair of headphones, was slouching with my hands shoved deep in my pockets, and had my face hidden in the neck of my shirt. The only possible way to interpret my body language was "go the hell away".

"Neku Sakuraba." That was as good as the man in the lab coat was going to get from me.

Everything about him made me uncomfortable, the gleam in his eyes, the scalpel gripped firmly in his right hand, the unsettling scar running from the middle of his face to the bottom of his right cheek, the _giant screw in his head_. That Sid guy had told me he was a teacher. Yeah, right. The "teacher" looked about as trustworthy as a harrier Reaper.

The professor shrugged and directed me to a seat in the back of the classroom before turning on the small animal bound to a small surgical table next to his desk and continuing to lecture the class. I sat down behind a group of four students, two male and two female, and began sorting through my pockets. Even as I sat there I could feel dozens of pairs of eye inspecting me, silently judging me, trying to determine why I deserved to be in their class.

This school was not a normal school; of that much I was sure. Based on what Death had told me, Shibusen was a school to teach people how to fight. But fight what? Monsters? Noise? Each other? My hand tightened into a fist. _Released from one hell just to end up in a different one._

A cursory check of my pockets revealed six small circles of cold metal, pins. A small sigh of relief escaped my lips. Having something, anything, from before was comforting, no matter what it was. The collection of pins I had amassed during my three round of the Game was gone. I now only had six pins in my possession, Pyrokinesis, Shockwave, Force Rounds, Psychokinesis, Walk On Walk Off, and my Player Pin.

While the small aluminum discs were comforting, there was no assurance they'd be useful. Back when I had been in the Game, pins only worked in combat and even then you had to have a partner. But Mr. H had called a "parallel plane of existence". Maybe the rules were different too?

There was only one way to find out. I stared down at the white skull pin in the palm of my hand and flipped it in one fluid motion born from habit and three weeks of necessity.

'_-is he?' _

'_-so boring.'_

' _-looks like a prick.'_

'_Can't wait-'_

'_\- meister or weapon?'_

It was like having twenty different radios playing on full blast, each vying to play their music louder. Despite the thoughts being segmented, only portions of what I should have been hearing, I was used to it. The music I hadn't expected.

Each thought came with musical accompaniment of every style and genre. Pop, rock, rap, classical, jazz, bebop, reggae, even polka. The music clashed, forming a nauseating cacophony in my head. I was going to explode, it was just too much.

"Hey, whatcha lookin' doing?" An annoying bubbly voice shattered the scan, forcing my eyes open and abruptly silencing the discord of music. Staring back at me was a boy with electric blue hair dressed simply in black and white pants, a black tank-top styled similarly to mine with a large collar, and black fingerless gloves. On his shoulder was a white star tattoo. The boy grinned and thrust his hand in my direction. "The name's Black Star, the biggest star at this school. Make sure you don't forget my name." Even his laugh was self-aggrandizing. I hated him instantly.

"Black Star," the girl beside him scolded. "You should try to be more polite when introducing yourself." She bowed slightly in her seat, her long brown ponytail falling over her shoulder. "My name is Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I apologize for my partner's lack of manners." Mature. That was the only way to describe her. Tall, graceful, and…well endowed. Her outfit was fairly simple, a pale yellow sleeveless dress with slits cut up the sides to reveal the upper portion of her thigh. On the right side of the outfit's chest was a yellow star insignia, reminiscent of the one on her partner's shoulder.

I deflected the would-be conversation with a silence and a disinterested glare. Talking could let them in, make me vulnerable. No, I was through with that. It was better to just strengthen my walls and hide in the safety of my castle.

"Hey! Don't ignore me!" Black Star hissed petulantly. "Didn't you hear me? I'm a big star! People like me don't get ignored!" My response was to reach down to the MP3 hanging around my neck and to make a show of turning up the volume. You could practically see the steam coming out of the "star's" ears as he increased the volume of his voice.

Why couldn't he just take the damn hint? "Shut up!" Black Star recoiled as if my words were a whip. I hadn't been loud, but I had forced every ounce of frustration and anger into my voice. "Stop talking. Just leave me the hell alone."

The girl, Tsubaki, stared at me in utter shock. My response was to blast rap until the world around me no longer existed.

* * *

**(Maka POV)**

…

"You bothered to help that asshole?" Black Star demanded, seething with anger.

There was no response I could offer. Soul and I couldn't have just left him passed out in an alley, but at the same time I hadn't known he'd be so…rude. Thankfully, my partner came to back me up.

"The guy was face down in an alley," Soul argued halfheartedly, which for him was a decent amount of effort. "Plus, you didn't hear the stuff he was saying in the dispensary."

"What stuff?" I asked cautiously, a slight frown on my face.

Soul sighed and ran his hand through his messy hair. "The dude thought he was dead. Was convinced he'd just been shot."

Soul's statement dropped like a bomb. My mouth opened only to close again. There was really nothing I could say. Black Star, however, had plenty to say and not even Tsubaki could placate him.

"Dead?" The ninja laughed maliciously. "He will be once I'm done with him."

"Black Star, not another fight," the tall girl protested. "It's his first day. Maybe he's just nervous." Not even Tsubaki seemed to believe her excuse.

"He should be nervous. I'm gonna kick his ass!" Black Star cracked his knuckled in anticipation.

I ignored Black Star's ranting and snuck a peek back at Neku out of the corner of my eye. He sat deathly still, lounging back in his chair with his face once again hidden by his shirt. Despite how vicious he had just been, my thoughts kept returning to a scared animal. That's all I could think of when I looked at the boy, a wounded animal lashing out at anything that came close.

The image begged one large question. What had caused the wound?

* * *

AN: Well that's it. I know, it's kinda short but it's a good enough intro to Neku's life at Shibusen. Hope you guys got the pretty obvious hint of something that's going to happen next chapter, I'm excited to write it. Unfortunately, I'm super busy right now and don't have a ton of time to write, so we'll see how long it takes me.

I'm putting a list of all the pins I gave Neku with fairly detailed information. If Walk on, Walk Off seems kind of out of place right now, just give it time. All the pins I've choosen (with the exception of Walk on, Walk Off) are from the set of pins you get at the beginning of TWEWY. My thought process was that they would be a good balance and not overly powerful. Although I have a cool idea on something I want to do with Psychokinesis. Here's a hint: Do you remember what Neku did to Skiki on day two? Now on to the reviews.

**Bloodwitch Raven: **No worries, mate.  
**TheLegendaryBladeFalchion:** You're welcome! I greatly appreciate the thanks. Also, I happen to agree that pre-Game emo Neku is underutilized.  
**Kit:** Thanks for the kind words! I love you too (in the non-creepy way).

So until next time; Read, Rate, and Review. Rinse and Repeat

-Ventusblade

**Neku's Pins** (all of these except Psychokinesis are straight out of TWEWY):

**Player Pin** (Black Skull Pin)

Description/Pin No: Given to each player upon entering the Game. During the Game identifies players and allows them to "scan" for enemies and read the thoughts of those not affiliated with the Game. Strengthens the walls around the Player's mind to prevent being scanned. NA

Attack: -

Duration: ∞

**Pyrokinesis**

Description/Pin No: Drag across empty space to create a path of flame. No 266

Attack: 22

Duration: 2.6s

**Shockwave**

Description/Pin No: Slash an enemy at any distance away for a horizontal swipe. No 267

Attack: 23

Duration: 9 uses

**Force Rounds**

Description/Pin No: Touch Empty space to fire a bullet in that direction. No 269

Attack: 26

Duration: 12 uses

**Psychokinesis** (adaptation based on Sexy B)

Description/Pin No: Drag enemies or obstacles around. No 270

Attack: 24

Duration: 6 uses

**Walk On, Walk Off**

Description/Pin No: A pin crafted by a Reaper who loves a good stroll. Wear this and life becomes a walk in the park. No 274.

Attack: -

Duration: 1.0s


	5. 4 - Fight or Flight

AN: So before I start the chapter, I want to apologize in case it's not that great. I wrote it while also having to study for the SAT (fun, fun, fun), so I'm not sure how great it is. Anyway, I wanted to continue it a bit longer, but I also wanted some more time to plan future events, so I left the chapter where it ends right now.

If you're sensitive to cursing or try to avoid it altogether I apologize. I didn't intend for characters to curse, but situations demanded it. I figured that since this story is rated T you guys would be able to handle it.

And just to give credit where credit is due; I am in no way an expert in psychology or physiology. All information on those subjects were gained from Wikipedia.

* * *

**(Neku POV)**

The cell—sorry, room—I had been issued pretty much set the tone of my experience at DWMA.

Located in the dungeon-like basement of the school, the door was cast iron with a lock on the outside, showing how much these people trusted me. Whatever, the distrust was mutual. Dreary grey stone slabs comprised the floors and walls. The only furniture was a small wooden desk that had held a small stack of books, a bed held up by chains affixed to the wall, and a folding chair.

The worst part was the window, a rectangular opening cut out in the wall opposite the door covered by a metal grate. It was just large enough to allow in minimal light from the smiling moon hanging in the sky.

Yes, _smiling_. Celestial bodies should _not_ smile, and they sure as hell shouldn't have blood ominously dripping from them. This world's moon broke both those rules.

I slammed shut the book I had been reading and threw it on top of the steadily growing pile of texts. The information I had gleamed from the pile gave me a much clearer view of this place and that view was chill inducing.

"A sound soul dwells in a sound mind and a sound body." That was the ultimate rule of this world. The horror show started with the introduction of unstable souls.

When a soul "veers of the path of the righteous" and consume other human souls in an attempt to gain power they become a "Kishin egg", a demon-like monstrosity. If allowed to rampage, these eggs become Kishins, full on monsters that spread Madness.

That's all the information I could find in the no doubt basic level materials provided. There was no mention of any existing Kishins, any that had ever existed, or even what Madness was.

I hummed thoughtfully. "Kishin, huh? Must be what those guys are learning to fight."

And there it was. _Those_ guys. As in not me. As in "leave me the hell out of it." My only concern was getting back to Shibuya, my Shibuya. The last thing I needed was getting caught up in someone else's fight.

Hanekoma knew that Lord Death guy. He had to know something that could send me back. So what if my vibe thing was lowered, it wouldn't hold me back from my goal.

With a sigh I hefted myself out of the folding chair, stretching my crapped legs, and shuffled over to the bed. My brain ached and the massive information dump had done it no favors.

"You survived the Game for three weeks," I reminded myself flatly, kicking off my shoes and carefully placing my headphones on the desk before collapsing on the bed. "What difference do a few more days of torture make?"

It was a pitiful attempt at comfort. The words echoed off the cold stone walls once before dying in the void of oblivion.

* * *

**(3****rd**** Person POV)**

Maka and Soul stood at opposite ends of their apartment's small kitchen preparing dinner, the meister dicing vegetables for the stir fry as her partner heated up the gas range and put oil in the pan.

It was a habit that began when they became partners, but the tone tonight was different from usual. Instead of animated conversation there was silence.

For Soul, this would usually be no issue. Silence required very little effort on his part, after all. But this was harsh and oppressive and maddening.

It was only a matter of time until one of them burst.

"Would you say something already!" Maka jumped at her partner's outburst, narrowly avoiding the tip of her finger with the sharp knife.

"Watch it!" Maka yelled back angrily. "You almost made me cut my finger off!" She slammed the knife down on the counter, metal colliding with stone in a piercing clatter.

"Maybe you should've been paying attention instead of brooding!" Soul countered hostilely.

"I was _not _brooding!"

"Yeah, you were just glaring at carrots for the fun of it."

…

The tension between the two was practically palpable, neither party willing to back down in the silent battle of attrition.

There was no way his partner would swallow her pride, of that much Soul was sure. It wasn't her style. And so, as with most of their disputes, he had to be the first to offer an olive branch. He turned away from his meister's glare and lowered the heat of the stove, releasing a heavy sigh as he did so. "Why the hell are we fighting?"

Maka blinked in surprise, taking a moment to consider his question. Search as she might, there was no answer to be found. "I don't know," she conceded, her anger melting into exhaustion. Silence again took hold of the small room as the two returned to their tasks, moving lethargically as if underwater. "Did we make the right decision with that Neku kid?" Maka's voice was small, uncertain, completely lacking in the bravado she normally exuded.

Soul tensed. She'd done it, acknowledged the figurative elephant in the room. And he'd been so careful to ignore it, to pretend it didn't exist.

"I want to think we were right in helping him, but…" A frown etched in her face as she bit her lip. It was a face Soul was intimately acquainted with. Soul hated that face; all it ever resulted in was something tiring. "The way he looks at everyone, the way he snapped at Black Star and Tsubaki…"

She didn't need to finish the thought; Soul knew exactly what she was talking about. "Yeah," he agreed solemnly. He'd seen it, the anger in the boy's voice, the wariness in his every action. "But there's gotta be a reason, right? When he woke up in the infirmary the first thing he asked was if he was alive. Not where he was, not how he got there, but if he was alive." The memory had been haunting him all morning. "Anyone who even needs to ask a question like that has definitely been through some major shit."

_Maybe I should try talking to the guy._

Soul froze. Why was that the first place his brain went? The kid was a lost cause; the chance of getting any information out of him was practically nonexistent. But for some reason he couldn't identify, he felt like he had to at least try. Soul "Eater" Evans, feared by underclassmen for being apathetic, felt the need to do something.

_Will it be worth the effort?_

"Hey, Maka." He already had a feeling that he would regret this. "I have something to do after class tomorrow. It might take a while so don't feel like you have to wait for me."

_What the hell am I doing?_

* * *

**(Neku POV)**

Moring came far too early.

I had barely pushed myself off the uncomfortable stone slab this place tried to pass off as a bed when a sharp knock sounded on the other side of the metallic door.

_And so it begins again._ _Who's it gonna be this time? The zombie, or his bandaged up partner?_

"Sakuraba, are you up?" Great, it was the zombie.

I'd definitely seen freakier things than the zombie teacher. And seriously, how threatening does "Sid the zombie" sound?

I grabbed my headphones from where I had left then last night and stuffed my handful of pins in my pocket. There had been more time to experiment with the metal disks last night and I had been pleased to discover that all of them worked despite my lack of a pact. The one with a graphic of a pair of sneakers had been the most interesting and had the most potential.

"Yeah, I'm up," I replied steadily, keeping my voice neutral as I attached the pin to my shirt. "Walk on, Walk off". At first I had been confused as to why I still had that one. During the Game it hadn't been in my main arsenal, and it barely saw the light of day. But in this world, oh in this world, this pin and I would be VERY good friends.

The door began creaking open and my hand hovered over the pin, itching to tap the graphic and put the gears into motion. When the opening was large enough for me to see the shadow of the teacher, I taped the pin.

"Sakuraba?" The door was wide open and so was my window of opportunity. But that window would only be open for about three seconds. And so I sprinted. Out that prison door, past the zombie warden, out into the narrow corridor.

_One second left,_ I warned myself. _Pick up the pace._ The ground beneath my feet became a blur as I ducked into another hallway. I was just in time too. The effects of the pin wore off and suddenly I was visible again. But it didn't matter, the zombie teacher was already left behind which meant one thing.

Freedom.

A left here, a right turn at that hallway, go up these stairs. If not for my ability to scan and follow the multitude of thoughts I would have never found my way out of Shibusen's basement, much less the way to courtyard in front of the school.

Simply put, the courtyard was a commons area with a few benches and a view of a city below. If you walked straight from the main entrance there was a staircase that seemed to go on forever, but the real view was the school itself. Whoever designed it should have been shot. Who the hell puts a giant skull mask on the center of a school? And lit candles and pointed black spikes protruding from the walls?

I turned away from the monstrosity with a shudder of disgust and instead focused on trying to find a relatively isolated section of the courtyard, which was starting to seem like a fool's errand. Students took up almost every inch of the place, mostly chatting with others as they waited for classes to start, and more were flooding up the stairs.

The music pumping through my headphones kicked up a few decibels to drown out the mindless din as I floated through the crowds. Apparently, news travelled slowly at this school because nobody seemed to bat an eye as I passed. To them I was just another unknown, one of the extras floating around in the background.

"Hey! You got some nerve tryin' to just walk past me!"

No. No, no, no, no. Anyone but that idiot. How about some Noise? C'mon Universe, you love throwing that shit at me. Maybe a Wooly AOR, or a Fusion Shark, or even some Taboo Noise if you're feeling kind. Anything but dealing with that loud mouthed, obnoxious, simpleminded, waste of oxygen.

Of course, the universe (in all its damn smugness) ignored my pleas.

"I'm talking to you, Phones!" A hand roughly grabbed my shoulder and spun me around, bringing me face to face with a certain blue haired individual. "You think you can just ignore me, Black Star?! Is that what you think, Phones?!"

"_You got that Phones?" "Yo, Phones! Pick it up, bro!" "Hey, Phones…" "Bwaaaa! Yo, Phone..." "Howdy, Phones. What can I do for ya?" "Phones? Now that's a cute nickname, Neku."_

A nickname, I reminded myself. That's all it is. A stupid nickname from a bunch of equally stupid people. They trusted blindly, convinced me to do the same, and then plunged a knife deep into my back when I wasn't looking. Just a meaningless nickname from a meaningless group of people.

So why wouldn't this pain go away?

"Shut up!" I yelled, dangerously out of control of my voice. _Make the pain stop, stop, stop!_ "Just shut the fuck up!" My heart rate was through the roof and my breathing erratic. _Get a grip! _

People were beginning to stare, shuffling closer to the action. I could hear some of them whispering, some about "the new kid", others about Black Star looking for "another fight".

No, no, no! I was trapped, caged in. Even if I tried to use Walk on, Walk off it would wear off too quickly.

Black Star sneered, reaching out toward the girl standing beside him. "What's the matter, _Phones?" _He drawled, stressing the nickname. The girl beside him began changing shape, beginning with her long ponytail becoming a chain. In an instant the blue haired boy was holding a weapon, two small sickles attached by a long chain at the end of each grip, and the girl was nowhere to be seen. "Let's see if you can ignore the great Black Star now?" He twirled one of the scythes in an unspoken challenge.

He wanted to fight. It was as simple as that. And like this, on the verge of hysteria, I was in no condition to refuse. All I could focus on was one thing, making the pain stop. And right now Black Star was the arbiter of that pain.

In one movement I reached into my pocket and equipped all my pins. A touch of cold aluminum and my hand was glowing, a short blade of energy emerging now that Shockwave was active.

They say you should never corner an animal. It triggers the fight or flight response, the reaction to any perceived harmful event or threat to survival. The body begins activating different areas such as the adrenal gland and the amygdala to trigger the release of several chemical messengers. These chemicals tell the body to produce the hormone cortisol which increases blood pressure, blood sugar, and suppresses the immune system. This gives the animal a boost of energy, strength, and speed to either escape the threat or fight it off. A cornered animal, having no chance of escape, will fight in a deadly display of fear induced strength and speed.

Humans are no different. The fight of flight response is just as strong. Right then, cornered by a wall of bodies and staring down a "threat to survival", that whole physiological process was pumping my body full of adrenalin. The time for rational thought was over, the tight constricting sensation in my chest growing stronger each second as it threatened to crush my ribs to dust

And through the fear, and the blast of energy, and the noise of the crowd, I could only process one thought.

Make the pain stop.

Nothing would, nothing could, keep me from that goal.

* * *

AN: And that's it. I apologize about once again teasing the fight scene, but I promise it will be the first thing to happen in the next chapter. Anywho, I like the progression I started with Neku and I'm excited to have him interact more with the Soul Eater characters, staring with Soul. Why does Soul feel responsible for Neku? Why did Neku go full on black blood level crazy when he heard his old nickname? Maybe I know, maybe I don't (odds are I know the reason).

Now that I've set up a darker tone for this story (even though it was by accident) my plans might have to change a bit. Originally I wanted to include the characters from Soul Eater NOT! but I'm not so sure now. I was going to have Tsugumi (the main character of that series) act as the "curious younger sister" trope to Neku, but considering how light hearted that series is I'm not sure it will mesh well. Any and all opinions on this topic would be greatly appreciated.

Finally, I always loved the use of Madness as a plot device in Soul Eater. There's just something about eating away at the protagonists' mind with the Kishin's Madness wavelength until their mind completely deteriorates and they become antagonistic is just so cool. I think I remember reading something in the manga that a person with an unstable soul is more susceptible to the Madness, but I haven't been able to find any solid evidence supporting that. If anyone knows anything about this please drop me a line and let me know.

On to the reviews.

**TheLegendaryBladeFalchion:** You're welcome for the chapter. Hope you enjoyed it! I love how you always say thanks, it's awesome. Also, sorry about the inconsistency. I hadn't played TWEWY in a while and I guess I wasn't paying attention as much as I should have been. Sorry about that. I'll refer to the game more often in the future to avoid things like that.  
**Bloodwitch Raven:** As of right now I don't have any plans for OCs to be in this story, but if you have an idea you want to see, let me know and I'll see if I can incorporate it into the story. After all, you guys are the reason I'm still writing this thing so I love getting reader input and trying to work with it. Thanks a bunch for the review. You're awesome!

Thank you to everyone who reviewed. It makes me super happy to see any new reviews regardless of whether it's an in-depth question, just a "cool" or "good job", or even a flame (thank fully I haven't received any of those yet). All of them help me to improve and let me know that you guys are actually enjoying the story. It sounds silly, but reviews are what keep writers going so I'm extremely grateful to all of you.

So, ladies, gentlemen, and others; until next time. Read, Rate, and Review. Rinse and Repeat.

-Ventusblade.


	6. 5 - A Mirrored Image

AN: Before we begin allow me to apologize. Yes, this update is pathetically short. Yes, you guys deserve something longer and better. Yes, writer's block is a bitch. So allow me to apologize and grovel before you. Now, enough of that. I hope you enjoy this short update.

* * *

**(Soul, 3****rd**** Person POV)**

Soul was not a morning person. Never had been, probably never would be. On an average morning, the never ending staircase leading to school was a bad joke on Lord Death's part. This particular morning, Soul was ready to flip effort the bird and turn back toward his apartment.

The sharp metallic hiss of a weapon slicing through the air was audible even from where Soul and his partner stood, not even at the top of the stairs. It could only mean one thing- a fight. And when he did the math—a fight + six forty five in the morning + it's too early for this shit—the only solution Soul came up with was his blue haired classmate.

"Black Star?" Maka asked warily as they continued the trek up the stairs. Based on her grimace, she had reached the same conclusion.

"Who else would pick a fight before school?"

Maka raised an eyebrow at her weapon partner, a slight smirk visible on her lips. "Oh, I dunno," she chirped sweetly. "I happen to remember you tried to fight Kid when he first enrolled." Her smirk deepened. "Emphasis on tried." They had finally reached the last few stairs.

Soul shrugged noncommittally and stuffed his hands into his pockets as the two stepped out into the courtyard in front of the school. As he'd guessed, there was a wide ring of students surrounding two others who were charging at each other. Unsurprisingly, one was the blued haired and loudmouthed ninja, Tsubaki in her chain scythe mode. The other combatant had Soul doing a double take.

"Is…is that Sakuraba?"

There in the center of the crowd, charging with a seven inch blade, seemingly made of nothing to pure unadulterated energy, protrude from his right hand. The two clashed, blades meeting in a shower of sparks and shriek of grinding metal. The other students cheered as Black Star stepped inside Neku's guard and pushed him back, basking in the attention he was being fed.

He slowly advanced on the panting boy, swinging Tsubaki lazily. "Hmph. For all that attitude you got no bite. Figures," Black Star spat. "C'mon _Phone, _don't you wanna-"

A pillar of flame interrupted the self-proclaimed star, forcing him jump back out of the blast zone. The second his feet hit solid ground the flames burst up next to him. Again Black Star fled, forced to stay vigilant to avoid being incinerated.

"He's controlling it." Soul turned to Maka who was staring at Neku. The boy had his right arm outstretched directing the flow of fire to wherever his opponent stood. "How can he be doing that?" She mused. "He doesn't even have a weapon." She narrowed her eyes in concentration, willing her soul perception ability to manifest. If she wanted to do some research on the kid she could be Soul's guest, meanwhile he'd be watching the fight. A startled yelp brought the white haired boy's focus back to his meister.

"Maka!" She staggered slightly, eyes squeezed shut in pain. "Are you okay?"

The meister nodded slowly, massaging her temples. "I-I think I just got rejected," she said in a shocked voice. "His soul forcefully denied my soul perception's intrusion. It was like static from a radio attacked my brain the instant his soul became visible."

Was that even possible, Soul wondered silently. Only a witch's soul protect ability could hide from a meister's soul perception, and even then he'd never heard of a soul having a defense mechanism. He doubted even Stein could pull off something like that. Interesting.

A collection of gasps and boos dragged Soul back to the fight. His eyes almost refused to process what was going on. Neku stood about five feet from Black Star, arm outstretched and a blue light surrounding his hand. Black Star was floating above the ground, hands wrapped around his throat and eyes wide with panic. A few choked gurgles were the only noises coming from him.

The blue haired boy's grip weakened as his lungs screamed in protest, causing with weapon partner to fall to the ground with a metallic clatter. Tsubaki assumed her human form, her face a portrait of distress and fear. "Sarkuraba-san! We forfeit this match! Please, release Black Star!" Her strained tight voice failed to reach the headphone-clad bow standing opposite her. His hand continued to glow, slowly draining the life from her partner as she watched on helplessly.

In a moment Soul had transformed his arm into a deadly scythe and began charging. In that same moment, a hand clamped around Neku's arm and yanked upward, dispelling the blue glow and allowing Black Star to fall to the group gasping for breath.

"That was quiet impressive, Sakuraba-kun, however Black Star and Tsubaki have already given up this fight." Professor Stein smiled hollowly as his free hand turned the oversized screw in his head. Neku glared up at the man, but remained silent. "Besides, classes started a few minutes ago, did they not? Or would you all like to attend detention at my lab?" The professor inquired innocently, his question directed at the entire group of students in the courtyard. Needless to say, the crowd dispersed almost instantly. "Shall we go?" Again Neku remained silent, wordlessly following the professor into the school.

* * *

**AN:** Welp, that's all I've been able to write. I've tried and tried and tried, but my brain has pulled a "peace out" and abandoned me. That being said, anyone to help with the planning of this story would be GREATLY appreciated. If you're interested just shoot me a PM or an email. A giant thank you to everyone who has favorited and followed this story, you rock my socks off! And finally, if you feel so inclined, _**leave a review**_. It really helps and it can be anything; a compliment, a suggestion, a request, a flame, literally anything.

Speaking of reviews, allow me to respond to some.

**Bloodwitch Raven: **Well, they are all Japanese? Maybe Beat and Rhyme have a long lost brother (who is a ninja for some reason). As hilarious as that would be, it's a little unlikely. Thanks for the review!**  
TheLegendaryBladeFalchion: **You're welcome! Neku will probably amass more pins as the story progresses, but I'll probably be fairly conservative with what I give him so he doesn't become too overpowered. But I'm curious, why the Holy Field and Darklit Planet sets? They're cool, but not really that helpful in-game. Anywho, thanks for reviewing, it means a lot!

And so until next time. Read, Rate, and Review. Rinse and repeat.

-Ventusblade


	7. 6 - Where the Lines Overlap

**(3****rd**** Person POV)**

The sun hung high in the cloudless blue sky above Death City, lazily shining down. For a Friday, the city was relatively calm and relaxed in terms of the pace of its citizens; a few pedestrians littered the narrow streets of the commercial district, ducking in the multitude of cafés and restaurants still recovering from the midday lunch rush; the town center below the towering DWMA radiated a tranquil ambience with a few couples and businessmen sitting on the low stone walls of the fountain and on the surrounding benches, softly conversing over the white noise of splashing water; even the residential district was peaceful, an rare oddity for the tightly packed apartment buildings and homes. It was only in one part of town, one particular park frequented by a certain group of Shibusen students, where any sort of uproar was apparent.

"That bastard is gonna pay!"

Soul rolled his eyes at his blue-haired friend's outburst and threw the basketball his way, smirking as it nearly collided with the meister's scrunched up face. "Good luck with that," he drawled, jogging to face off against Black Star in the center of the court. "He nearly sent your ass to Lord Death the hard way." Internally the boy shuddered. The fight that morning had solidified his belief that he did not want to mess with Sakuraba.

If someone put a gun to his head and forced him to describe the duel in three words, Soul would have to respond with "aweing, ruthless, nope". The fact that Sakuraba had not only held his own against Black Star, but had _demolished_ the martial artist without a weapon was—honestly—unbelievable. The only other Meister that competent in hand to hand combat was Professor Stein, and being compared to that madman was nothing to sneeze at. At the same time, the awe was outweighed by the sheer terror that was a pissed off Neku Sakuraba. The image of Black Star helplessly dangling above the ground, hands frantically clawing at his throat as some unseen force chocked the life from him was seared into Soul's mind. He had no doubts that if Professor Stein had not stepped in when he had, they would've had to start planning Black Star's funeral.

Tsubaki dashed forward and gracefully stole the ball from her meister, dribbling toward the other team's basket with Liz hot on her heels. Across the court Soul set up for a possible rebound. "I'm with Soul," she declared, shooting the ball to earn her team anther three points. "That look in his eyes…it reminded me of my brother, completely devoid of any emotion."

"Do you mean he's walking the path of a Kishin?" Kid asked with a concerned frown, cradling his cheek in his palm as he sat on the bench by the sidelines. Neither he nor his partners had seen the fight in the courtyard, but knew of it by word-of-mouth. "No, that's impossible," the young reaper shook his head derisively. "If that were the case, my father never would have allowed him to enroll."

Beside him, the older Thompson sister shrugged uncertainly. "I dunno, Kid. Maybe he's not going to just randomly turn into a Kishin, but he's definitely sketchy." She leaned against the low wall around the perimeter of the basketball court. "He's been here for what, two days, and there's already a ton of rumors about him."

Maka's nose remained buried in her book, apathetic to the older girl's gossip. "Who cares? They're just rumors."

Soul nudged his partner with his shoulder, lazily raising one eyebrow. "You're just as curious as the rest of us and you know it." The girl huffed in response and folded her arms, but made no attempt to correct the white haired weapon.

"Fine," she sighed, snapping her book shut and holding it on her lap. "Tell us the stupid rumors."

The basketball game was put on pause as everyone gathered around Liz in various states of interest or—in Black Star's case― irritation. The older Thompson lowered her voice conspiringly, "the first one isn't too interesting, but I heard they keep him locked in the school's basement at night."

Maka shrugged, obviously unimpressed. "He didn't have anywhere to live, so they gave him a room down there for free. As far as I know, he can leave whenever he wants. Next."

"Some people have tried following him around the school, but whenever he turns a corner he just vanished into thin air. Some people are starting to say he's some kind of ghost." Liz was met with multiple blank stares. "What? It could be true."

Soul scratched the back of his head pensively. "That would explain something," he muttered.

Kid raised one eyebrow questioningly. "What exactly would that explain?"

"Why he thought he was dead when he woke up in the infirmary," Soul replied. "I was going to try asking him about it this morning," he ignored Black Star's disdainful snort, "but I didn't get a chance with the whole 'Black Star getting his ass kicked' thing."

Maka straightened in her seat, craning her neck to see over her standing group of friends at a passing figure, a lanky teen with a recognizable tank-top and pair of headphones. "You might actually get that chance."

* * *

**(Neku POV)**

I was having a shitty day.

First I woke up in the city with the deranged sun instead of Shibuya, where I should have been. Then I got roped into some stupid fight with a loudmouthed ninja wannabe and lost my cool, which, for the record, hadn't even been my fault. To add insult to injury, as punishment for nearly killing the kid—though he absolutely was asking for it—I was going to have to go on a mission with him, whatever the hell that meant. All I knew for certain was that if it ended with the phrase "fail and face erasure" I was going to promptly launch myself from the nearest rooftop.

Now I was stuck with Stalker 2.0―my assigned "tour guide"—as she attempted to show me around the city. The reasoning I'd been given was since I would be staying here for the foreseeable future (because fate has a twisted sense of humor) I might as well get familiar with the geography. Personally, the only geography that would have interested me was a secluded cave, and the city was probably fresh out of those. After a few minutes of "this is a street, this is another street", I tried to bail and give the girl the slip.

"Would you slow down!" Tsugumi gasped, the long pig tails on either side of her head bouncing as her black and white plaid skirt ruffled in the wind. Despite the younger girl's frantic pace, she was struggling to keep up.

Naturally I ignored her, opting to casually stride down another side street. Man this girl was worse than Stalker had been. At least I had been forced to stay with Stalker to survive. This girl was just annoying for the sake of being annoying.

"Hey! I said could you slow down!" the girl demanded again. "There's no need to be so—" Tsugumi's voice died away as rap music began blasting in my headphones.

_Time! I won't ever give in no matter how hard you pull me in. I know gravity ain't-_

Music had always been my escape. During the Game when…when Stalker explained what was going that first day, I hadn't known how to react. Hell I hadn't even known who I was and suddenly I was being told we were trapped in Shibuya playing a death game for the next week. The next day I woke up before her, laying on the hard pavement of the Station Underpass in a daze. What was I supposed to do? There was no way to come to terms with what was happening to me. So instead I just put on my CAT headphones and pretended the world didn't exist.

So far that approach wasn't working here. Everything was too different, too unsettling. My phones plugged my ears, but I couldn't cover my eyes. "The world ends at your borders." But now my world had been ripped away and I had nothing, I was nothing. Just a wandering ball of distrust and anger.

_A ball of loneliness,_ a small timid voice in the back of my mind chided, so weak the thought barely even registered. Loneliness had always been my companion, even before I died. Once I had cared for someone, but then they left me. During the Game I was given that same companionship, but it was just a sham; a brief painful mask the loneliness wore for a short time. Even if I wanted to be rid of that pang, I couldn't bear the agony of having companionship ripped away again. Hurt me one, shame on me. Hurt me twice, shame on the world.

Hurt me three times and I would crumble.

A gently tap on my shoulder stopped me both my thoughts and my tracks. Quickly I spun around on my heels, my hand flying to the pins on my shirt and gently tapping Shockwave, willing the familiar blade of energy to appear. The person who had tapped me quickly put up the hands and I took a moment to warily inspect them. It wasn't that Tsugumi girl, but the white haired boy from the infirmary.

"Yo," the boy greeted tentatively, shying away from the blade. "I saw you wandering around and wondered if you wanted some company."

Unwittingly, a derisive snort escaped from my mouth. Was this guy for real? Not even bothering to respond, I resumed walking. However, to my surprise, the boy didn't just leave. He began walking with me, silently keeping pace beside me. I cast a sideways glare but the boy was undeterred.

We must have walked for fifteen minutes, the white haired kid silently following me in my aimless wander. Grudgingly, I had to admit that it wasn't overtly uncomfortable.

Was I thrilled that this guy I had met twice was following in my wake like some kind of duckling? Not in the slightest. But the one redeeming factor was his―the name Soul Eater popped into my head―silence. Not once did he try to initiate or force conversation upon me. He only put one foot in front of the other, staring ahead impassively. And for that the atmosphere was not uncomfortable, in fact it was almost relaxed.

Eventually my good conscious fled and my courage surged. "What're you doing?" I growled, doing my best to imitate Minamimoto's gruff barking.

"Just walking," Soul answered easily, still looking ahead. Another moment of silence followed before he once again spoke. "Besides," he shrugged, "looked kinda lonely wandering around on your own."

Instantly I was on guard. "And you're such a great guy that you decided to put me out of my misery?" I spat, my words dripping with aggression.

Soul stood his ground, maintaining his lazy pace. "Nah. It's not cool to do something like that." He paused for a moment, as if carefully considering his next move. "I…just know what it's like to not have anyone." He looked up at the cloudless sky, squinting from the sun's light. "It sucks."

My pace gradually slowed to a halt and I turned to look at the white haired boy. "It sucks," he repeated, still looking. "You have someone and then, bam, they're gone." The wistful look in his eyes caught me off guard. "You know about meisters?"

"Why do you ask?" I demanded hotly.

The boy shrugged in response. "You were paying attention during Stein's lecture on meisters and weapons," he pointed out as if that explained everything."

"And?"

"Everyone in DWMA, especially everyone in the EAT classes, should already know that. Barely anyone even heard what he said."

Was it really that common knowledge? I'd read a little on the subject from book I'd had the zombie get for me, but they seemed so advanced that I assumed it was more specialized information. In the future, I would have to be more care, do more research first.

Soul took my silence as an invitation to continue. "I had this meister a long time ago, real nice dude. We'd grown up together and just kinda joined up through circumstance. Things were going pretty well, I was getting a hold of transforming. Then, one day, he was just gone. It took about a week for me to realize I'd never see him again, and the hole he left hurt like a bitch." Soul returned his gaze to me, glancing at me with a neutral expression.

"And why are you telling me this? Why should I care about your stupid sob story?"

"I dunno," Soul drawled, starting to walk again. As if of their own volition, my legs began moving, carrying after the white haired boy. "It's obvious you don't trust anybody worth shit. I just thought that you could relate." He shrugged again. "Maybe thought you need someone to vent to."

I rolled his words over in my mind. Was I seriously considering his offer? It could all be some elaborate trick, some ploy to get within my mental walls. If I let him in it would only spell pain, pain that I did not need. I didn't need other people. Trying to relate to someone else, to understand what they were feeling, was just a load of Reaper shit.

So why was I honestly considering his offer?

"I'm sure as hell not talking out here." The words that came quietly rushing from my mouth surprised even me, coming forth before I had time to really process them. "Where's the school?"

Wordlessly, Soul pointed in a direction and began to lead me, weaving in and out of different streets. The familiar silence had returned but now with an overtone of tension.

_The world ends at my borders. The pain of creating them can't be as bad a losing them…can it?_

* * *

AN: SURPRISE CHAPTER MY GLIBGLOBS! Haha! Now you can stop bugging me about this Sam! Here's your Reject fix.

All ranting about my little brother aside, I'm actually just as surprised as you guys that I wrote this. It was completely unplanned and written almost entirely in one night, so…yeah. I still don't have much for a solid plot, but I decided that Neku has been static for long enough and it was time to begin the dreaded character development. The character I plan on using to initiate that development should be rather apparent, but I think the two mesh well.

Anywho, it's 2:44 in the morning, my computer shut down on me once so this is the second time I'm writing the end to this chapter and the authors note, so I really want to finish this and—in the words of Adam Mansbach―go the f**k to sleep. With that in mind, let's move on to the reviews.

**Bloodwitch Rave: **Black Star and Beat being related is kinda like Sharknado; it's hilarious in concept, but in practice it's terrifying. Thank you for the review and the support. You're super consistent about reviewing and I really appreciate it.**  
TheLEgendaryBladeFalchion: **You're very welcome! Thank you for all the support and reviews. Both are super awesome!**  
Confinamiento solitario: **I'm glad I proved you wrong too! This story _is_ fun to write, but it's just a little difficult for me to find a decent amount of time to sit down and put pen to paper (fingers to keyboard?). Anyway, I'm glad to hear you like the story and thank you for the support.**  
DoshesToDoshes:** You, monsieur or madame, must take things very literally. It took me a while, but once my brain kicked in that review was really funny. Thank you for the support and I hope this chapter was at least a little more fulfilling than the last one.

And now it's 3 in the morning and I've said my piece. My pillow is calling out to me.

And so until next time, guys.

Read, Rate, and Review. Rinse and Repeat.

-Ventusblade


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